Fantasy Hunter's Moon [IC] [CLOSED]

[Emperor Sagan]

A muted energetic whirl shrouded Aleister's body as Guy admitted to his true identity. Had this been back at the time he met Undite he may have had trouble standing, but after everything that had occurred and his fraying nerves, it was surprising that he felt so... disconnected. The thrill still ran deep through his body, yet he could only muster a simple nod.

Aleister stepped closer along to the stall. "It was some time ago, well over several weeks, in Tresomin. I was residing in an inn with an... associate when we met Her. She is well, I think, and living out of the public eye, under another name. Like you. We spoke a little over some matters and she gave me this amulet, and a tome to my associate." It was discomforting to think of Mariette and he could hardly say her name least his own emotions begin to unravel again.

"I... must admit I am rather shocked to stand beside another god. Especially the other one I have given my life's pursuits towards. Both you and Undite," he explained, revealing the assortment of rings and amulets he had dedicated to the two gods.

Aleister shook his head and ran a hand through his soft, parted hair. "I would never presume to make a request to you, but the Duke of this land... he has Adona's Ring, and he plans to do terrible, terrible things. The people I stand with, even myself, we may not be strong enough to handle this man," he said quietly, adding, "we are armed with Velin's Sword, that cursed thing. Madness is invading this world and so few can see it."

 

[Infab]

Valeria listened as Ethraeil spoke, with Sazak chiming in inside her head here and there to elaborate on Ethraeil's statements. I taught him what I knew from my dear friend Ralvas, the Abyssal Icon of Pride. He knows far more about the lich and necromancy than I, but I couldn't simply hand him over to Ralvas. Oh no. I needed a plaything of my own. It was the Age of Darkness, and everyone was trying to impress our dark lord Taranoch. Lucky for me, I impressed him greatly through the use of Ethraeil...before his eventual banishment back to the Abyss, of course. Ethraeil, obviously, rebelled against me, and I slaughtered his armies myself. Afterwards, I left him to be captured by the Church's inquisitors. I had no more use for him, so I left the phylactery in a place where the Church could easily find it. And then he became their slave. "...He used you to impress Taranoch." said Valeria, looking towards the river before reaching up and tapping her temple.

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Guy's expression turned from one of happiness to one of worry. He sighed. "...Madness has always been here. It was here when I walked the realm with my companions, and was here before that." he said, looking down towards the basket of apples next to him before glancing back to Aleister. "...If you're asking me to do something, or help you...I can't. I'm not the same person I used to be. None of us are...save for Adona and Velin. Velin is still in Heaven sleeping...and Adona is...I don't know where he is." He then straightened up, and held out his hand palm up. A moment later, a small glowing orb appeared, but began to flicker after a few seconds before eventually disappearing. "...The gods are not eternal...and the current cycle is coming to an end. I have little power left, and I use it to at least make the people of this village happy. Undite...she's trying to find a way to boost our powers back to the way they were before but...I don't think there's a way." he said.

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"Sir...we haven't heard back from Cassandra and Archer. We should assume they're dead." stated an officer, as the Duke sat nearby. He glanced up, as his fingers gently turned the ring about around his finger. Adona's ring, the key to what he planned to achieve. For the first time, visible anger appeared on his face. "The sheer incompetence...What of Christoph?" he asked, looking to the soldier as he stood on the other side of the wooden table inside the tavern. "Christoph has yet to return from Dairoh." stated the soldier.

"And Ser Edmond? Blair?" said the Duke, looking back down to the ring. "They just arrived here in Buckshard, sir. They should be here within a few moments." replied the soldier. A few moments later, a woman in a top hat, wearing a monocle, stepped through the double doors of the large tavern. "Good day, gentlemen! Lord Ashwood, you're looking exceptional." she stated, smiling and removing her hat as she stepped up and bowed

 

[joshuadim]

Ethraeil quickly turned his skull to Valeria with her comment, glaring at her with a cold intensity. "Did he whisper that into your head?" Ethraeil asked angrily.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Aleister shook his head when Guy demonstrated his failing power. "I do not know what to say. This 'cycle' you speak of sounds foolish to me. Eternity can be grasped and tamed, with great effort. I do not like the idea of some... cosmic hand governing when the end is coming. I have full and complete faith in Mistress Undite to shatter this notion. She will find a way, I am sure."

"It is noble you continue to help as you can. I... I probably would not still stand here if it wasn't for Undite. Backing away now would mean betraying the trust she placed in me by giving me this," he said, clutching the amulet. "Purity has never existed in this world, but I see more and more poison lingering in the souls of men. Perhaps I never noticed it until now. Once this is all over I intend to fix that."

 

[Dmaster]

Camille had been silent for the conversation up until this point, merely quirking a brow when Guy's true identity came to light. Had she been more religious she would be stunned, yet she was only numb to both his presence and his failing hold on divinity. It came as no real surprise to her, as the gods seemed to be playing an awfully small role considering that this was their mess to fix. Leaving artifacts behind for madmen to use and abuse, how terribly short-sighted.

With a few steps forward the huntress moved into the conversation, now at Aleister's side. "And just how do you intend to do that?" she asks rather brazenly. "You cannot change the nature of those who do evil. It is something they must come to terms with themselves. Talking up your abilities in front of your patron deity, monsieur?"

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Like the vampires and other unfortunates you hunt?" Aleister shot back, glancing at Camille as she appeared beside him. His mischievous and relaxed demeanor had began to erode over the past few weeks, and now he looked rather humorless. Even his hair was curled in a less extravagant manner.

"I am a priest and intend to put that to better use than I have in recent years. And besides, I have other methods if necessary."

 

[Dmaster]

She could only chuckle at such an icy response, shaking her head with her hands on her hips. "By the time they find themselves in my sights, they are beyond redemption." Camille states coldly. "Perhaps it better I let the poor and defenseless die in droves to preserve the innocence of those I hunt?" It was clear she wouldn't entertain such nonsense either, though the 'other methods' he openly spoke of had her cautious.

"Perhaps you should focus on what's directly ahead before devoting yourself to such a cause so selflessly. You won't be able to change the world if it is naught but ash."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Aleister shook his head again, but this time in irritation. "At what point did I say to let the guilty harm the innocent? Your tenacity for the hunt is charming for a hound, but unbecoming for someone more sophisticated. And like a hound you may strike out at those who do not deserve it. Simply because they are hunted does not mean they are beyond redemption. If the constabulary pursued you right now and you ran, would that be an admission of whatever guilt they wish to apply to you? People run when they are chased."

"As for what lays ahead, I do not intend to keep my head in the dirt and not plan for things to come. I rather not entertain the idea of dying or failing, and so I anticipate where I shall go and what I shall do when this deplorable business is finished."

 

[Dmaster]

Camille laughs aloud at that last statement, a hand coming up to graze just below her neck in a futile attempt to contain her rolling exclamation. "Deplorable? You find yourself above saving the world and the people in it?" she asks, soon growing stern.

"Your claims of my hunt being so voracious are also shoddy. You know nothing of how I operate, do not pretend you have the slightest idea that you do." the Marquess adds, turning on her heel to look at the priest fully. "What's brought this on, Aleister? Have you finally realized that the world is not so easily swayed to be this beacon of peace and love with the words of yourself and your clergy? So long as the world stands there will always be wicked and vile beings that aim to contest it. Do not attack me because my methods are more proactive than your own." Camille fires back with a sneer.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"What is deplorable is being led by an inquisitor who gave her soul to the very demon involved in this madness, having to stride alongside a lich - a being which puppets souls - and now stand here not knowing what the hell the enemy truly has planned, and what they know of us. This isn't one of your fox hunts, Giguere," he replied with equal ferocity.

"You say I know nothing of how you operate, yet you make such assumptions about me? You don't even know the first thing about what I do and have done," he said hotly, matching her sneer. "I never imagined this world to be one of peace and love, I know this far better than most. I've walked across this continent and back when I was mortal and you do not know the extent of what I have seen and been subjected to. And yet after everything, I still considered this world to be sane. Now I question even that."

 

[KRIY]

Wesley admired the tranquility of Westerly, to see people go about their daily lives and go about peacefully. he cherished these moments of silence, compared to seeing dead bodies and broken families over the course of this Inquiry, He first noticed Galina, who was standing by watching Aleister and Camille bicker over one another. He slowly walked to Galina’s side without her noticing him that he was there.


“It’s apparent that those two are fighting over something again, hm?”

 

[K0mori]

"Excuse me," a voice cut in. Aleister and Camille turned to find a tall, austere-looking man with graying hair, dressed in plain black clothing. At first glance he would easily be mistaken for a priest, if not for the long, double-barreled shotgun he held in his hands, which, thankfully, was open at the breech to reveal that it was empty. "I don't know what prompted all this commotion, Guy, but I've had a poor go of it this morning and I'd like to bring something home to the wife aside from bread and apologies-" The man suddenly took an alarmed step backwards, eyes alertly focused on Aleister. "You..." he said with palpable fear and hatred in his voice, the sort that all vampires were familiar with. "What's going on, here?"

 

[Viper Actual]

Galina glanced briefly over her shoulder before looking back at Camille and Aleister. "Indeed they are," she replied, nodding.
Sighing, Galina spoke up again while keeping her eyes trained on the bickering couple.

"Wesley I know why you are here. Before you say anything I... I understand that what Cassandra did to you wasn't completely voluntary. I'm not quite ready to forgive you but I know that killing her couldn't have been easy," she said softly.

 

[Dmaster]

"Ah, oui. Who could forget of your valiant attendance of art exhibitions and numerous instances of courtship?!" she spat back. "Since the beginning of this inquiry I have been working alongside all manner of ghastly individuals, yet despite our differences and an attempt being made on my life, I have remained cooperative. This is a challenge that tests my skill and tenacity, I will not give in from the simple dysfunctions of who I am forced to work with."

Camille rolls her shoulders, continuing to leer at the vampire before her. "The world is not a kind and loving one, yet you make me out to be some kind of cold, unfeeling monster for doing what I deem is necessary. I have come to accept your nature, as a priest you owe me the respect and kindness to -..."

The addition of another in their conversation gave her pause, and she bit her tongue while she gave the man a once-over. Who was this man? It did not matter, she would at least halt things to preserve the deity's secrecy. "A non-noteworthy disagreement over direction, monsieur." Camille states.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Aleister's fingers dug into the palm of his hand as Camille continued on, his cheek curled back in displeasure. This woman was as insufferable as ever, and even as they had moments of understanding, he had never met anyone so ridiculously self-righteous and stubborn. Her tenacity was certainly as much of a virtue as much as it was a curse to deal with.

His eyes quickly swept over towards the appearance of a man in black, and for a moment he took him for a gravedigger for he seemed to harbor the solemn and grim features of one, but that did not quite seem correct. Odd for a gravedigger to tote a shotgun. Though then again... perhaps not.

Aleister did his best to compose himself around a stranger, but the man's tone put pause in that effort.

"A very non-noteworthy disagreement over direction, sir," he replied alongside Camille, fixing the man with a stern glare.

 

[K0mori]

The man didn't seem to accept the explanation, as he lingered, tightly gripping the shotgun in his hands. Then, when he finally took his eyes off Aleister and looked Camille over, he realized how roguish she actually appeared and grew even more alarmed. "You expect me to just accept that explanation and walk away?" he demanded more quietly than he had spoken before. "I don't just hunt game, you know. You strangers bring a blood sucker into my town and I consider it a personal challenge, so he'd better have a damned good reason for being here."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Aleister's shoulders squared as his fixed the man with an even stronger glare, one nearly feral. Being called a bloodsucker was a small insult. Sixty years of undeath allowed for plenty of time to hear all manner of names, funny or otherwise. In truth, most made him laugh. There was no reason to be concerned with petty schoolboy wordplay. Most people barely registered as more than a passing annoyance. A little smile, a polite laugh, and he could move on with his day. And yet....

He leveled one white gloved finger at the man, his left hand in his pocket as his fingers broke the skin and pierced into his palm. "I go where I damn well please you sniveling rodent, this woman is not my keeper and never will be," he snapped. "Speak like that around me again and I will demonstrate to you what sort of game you stand among."

 

[K0mori]

The man met Aleister's gaze eye to eye, before looking back to Camille. "Is that so? Then you follow his lead, miss?" The man reached into a bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out a pair of shotgun shells which appeared to be homemade, which he then loaded into the gun. "I would certainly hope that isn't the case."

 

[Dmaster]

She kept standing straight, hands still on her hips as the man tore into Aleister. Just the one bloodsucker in his quiant little town? If only he knew what the entire entourage was harboring. Despite her inward amusement she dropped pleasantries and soon lowered her hands to her sides.

"Relax yourself. We are on inquiry business. This vampire is far from the sort to terrorize your town." she defends. "If he was I would not be conversing with him, let alone be an associate to him."

Yet Aleister then escalated things further, and she shot him a glare in hopes to calm him down. Had he forgotten that he was not standing more than four feet from his god? Foolish and tempramental. "No, I do not follow anyone's lead. Yet I hold more tact than to just unload ammunition into a traveler going through your town's streets." Camille replies.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Cute toy," he said while rolling his eyes as the man made a show of loading his shotgun. Probably silver.

"I'm a priest," he said curtly, then glancing at Camille and forcing himself to ignore her second remark. "We're both honorary inquisitors nearing the end of a long journey. We don't have need to consult with a gravedigger, so buy your apples and leave."

 

[K0mori]

"Inquiry...? You two are working with the Inquisitors?" the man asked, his rigid stance softening a bit. He looked to Guy, whose bewildered expression told him that the entire exchange had been a misunderstanding. He grimaced a bit as he let a hand off his gun, allowing the barrel to point down at the earth. "They must be short-handed or desperate if they'll allow his ilk to tag along. But if that's the case, I suppose I won't be losing sleep from any empty threats, hmm? You know, I'd like to know who the two of you report to. I might be able to help you with whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. I've got... tools," he said with a grin before finally glancing back at Aleister. "I'd love to finally put some to use."

 

[KRIY]

Wesley was silent after a few seconds before he responded “… It was… I felt that I could’ve convinced her to join our side… and maybe she would have been still with us, not the crazed pureblood. But as the young huntress who wanted to make the world a better place...” Wesley turned his head, his focus now on Galina. “I know you were in the military before getting into hunting. Tell me, did you ever lose someone that was close to you?”

 

[Infab]

As the group before him bickered amongst one another, with a new individual joining into the mix, Guy took a step back and listened. His expression drifted to one of sadness, almost pained as he listened at how Aleister and Camille spoke to one another. "...The world is a dark, and sometimes horrible place. I know this all too well, for I have walked it for quite a long time." he said, finally speaking up. He then looked to Aleister. "...You follow the teachings of Gyasis, correct? And those of Undite...your duties are to bring compassion and kindness to all. You walk the path that both of the gods walked. Its a long and hard road. Not everyone is deserving of the gift of love, but you give it anyway. And you teach others to give it. To tip the balance against hatred, and to bring light to a darkened world. Guide them along the path to righteousness."

He then looked to Camille. "...You have been wronged in the past...I can feel it. Someone close to you went down a dark path, and it has stained your view of certain others. Please...don't judge these people for the things they haven't done yet, and may not do in the future. Not all vampires are evil or will turn evil...I know this first hand, as does your friend here. I know because I loved one and still love her to this day...wherever she may be. And those that do turn to the darker path...they can still be redeemed. I have seen it, and I have helped those seek and find redemption. Please...show compassion for all, and the world will eventually become a better place. For Humans, Vampires, Werebeasts...Don't...Don't become like Velin. Please."

He felt something wet land on his head, and he reached up to feel it. Water. Rain, specifically. He then looked back up to the new individual that had joined them. "If you still wish to buy some apples, perhaps we should do business quickly." he said, forcing a smile as he motioned to the baskets.

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Valeria slowly nodded. "Sazak...he pops in every now and then and comments on things...I wish he'd just leave me alone, but he...just decided to explain his side of things while you were talking."

 

[joshuadim]

Ethraeil maintained his gaze as he got up and slowly walked towards Valeria. "Then he can hear me too." he said as he continued to walk. "Listen here, abyssal filth, so long as I walk this earth you will never escape my vengeance nor my wrath."

By the time he arrived next to Valeria, he felt nothing but cold rage fill him as he continued to stare straight into Valeria. "I will rip your demonspawn apart piece by piece so that you know what it was like to lose a child. I will tear down the walls of the abyssal kingdom so that you know what it was like to lose a realm. I will destroy everything you hold dear so that you know of what it was like to be robbed of existence. And when all is said and done, I will rend your very soul apart so that there is nothing tangible left to even comprehend."

"This is not a threat, Sazak. This is a promise."

 

[Infab]

Valeria's eyes suddenly shifted for a moment to the pure black with glowing yellow irises commonly found in demons. "Your 'promises' are hollow, Ethraeil. Much like you. You've made them before, and look who came out of it the victor? My children are still alive, the Abyssal kingdom stands eternal, and I'm still here." she said, her words clearly that of Sazak's. A moment later, as if punctuation to his statement, Valeria's eyes shifted back to normal. She frowned, the look in her eyes shifting to sadness. "...gods damn it." she muttered, looking away.